


Of Rice Porridge and Cuddles

by The_Consulting_Werewolf



Series: We All Need More Krisho in Our Lives (A Domestic AU Series) [11]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, i miss killing people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 08:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12813333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Consulting_Werewolf/pseuds/The_Consulting_Werewolf
Summary: In which, being sick sucks for Yifan, but at least he gets all the cuddles from Junmyeon.





	Of Rice Porridge and Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

> The events of this fic are sent in 2014.  
> Yifan and Junmyeon are both 24 years old.

Yifan wakes up with a foreboding. He opens his eyes a little and the sunlight falling into them feel like daggers stabbing into his eyeballs. And the stabbing sensation continues to his head and he whimpers a little into the pillow. He hears footsteps and a shadow falls over, and when he squints, he realises it is his boyfriend, Junmyeon, leaning over him with a worried look on his face. A cool hand lands on his forehead and Yifan sighs at the touch. He hears Junmyeon gasp, “Oh my god Fan, you’re burning up!”

Yifan groans, Junmyeon’s voice gets louder and it is a bit grating. He shifts, uncomfortable and kind of cold. He moans, “Cold Myeon.”

Junmyeon understands as he gets up and rummages through their closet to look for an extra blanket. As soon as he finds one, he spreads it over Yifan’s body, and Yifan likes the soothing smell of moth balls, he decides. Junmyeon returns to his side and gently massages his scalp. He asks, in a low tone, “Fan, is your head hurting?” Yifan is all but hidden under the two blankets and all Junmyeon can see is the top of his brown head, which definitely nods in affirmative. “Okay, okay. I am gonna call my and your bosses and make you something to eat, is that okay?”

Yifan hates that Junmyeon wants to skip work for him, but his head pounds and he doesn’t have the energy to speak so he just mumbles something incoherent that Junmyeon thinks is him agreeing to his question. Junmyeon drops a small kiss on his temple and gets up from the bed. He knows Yifan’s headaches get worse if there’s too much light, so he draws the curtains and silently tiptoes out of the room to call Minseo. Three months into his work as a trainee teacher and he is already calling for a leave, but he knows he won’t be able to concentrate on work with Yifan sick. He knows Yifan’s migraine is often followed a fever that doesn’t last long but still leaves him weak and cold.

Fortunately, Junmyeon’s boss is a nice person who allows him to take a day off from work. He moves into the kitchen to start on the porridge and he rubs the bridge of his nose first. He isn’t very good at cooking, and between Yifan teaching him a few things and Yongsun and Baekhee sending him some easy recipes, he had improved, but he is still not that confident with his skills.

But he gets to working anyway. He skips the ground pork and moves on to crushing some ginger, garlic, cooking wine, salt, sugar, soy sauce, oil and corn-starch in to a bowl. He puts the bowl in to refrigerator and moves on to wash the rice and cook it. As the rice simmers, he decides to go check on Yifan, whom he finds soundly sleeping. He smiles at the tuft of brown hair sticking out beneath the blankets and his heart swells in affection and worry a little. He had already dressed for work, so he quickly changes back into his pyjamas and sweatshirt (Yifan’s sweatshirt, but whatever).

He takes a look at the rice, which is simmering gently and thinks about quickly dropping by the grocery-cum-pharmacy to pick up some food and medicines for Yifan. He hopes the rice doesn’t burn by the time he returns. The one reason they chose this apartment was the proximity of the grocery store and the farmer’s market. He breezes through the store, picking up some chicken stock cubes, painkillers, fever medicine and melon popsicles. He returns just in time as the rice turns starchy. He puts in the ginger-garlic mixture and waits for more five to ten minutes.

He walks into their bedroom and sees Yifan with his eyes open, slowly blinking up at the ceiling, looking a little lost and confused. Junmyeon sits down and Yifan gives him a soft smile, one hand reaching for Junmyeon. The younger takes it and entwines their fingers, kissing each knuckle on Yifan’s hand. He asks, “How do you feel?”

Yifan clears his throat, “I don’t know. My head hurts so much.”

“Let me take your temperature, okay?” Junmyeon pulls out the thermometer from the bedside drawer and nudges the tip under Yifan’s tongue. After a few minutes, he pulls it out and sighs in relief, “That’s not too high, thank god.” Junmyeon cleans the thermometer and puts it on the bedside table. “Now, you gotta eat something, okay? I will not give you any medicines on an empty stomach.” Yifan groans in response; Junmyeon drops a kiss on his forehead before getting up from the bed and heading back into the kitchen.

Junmyeon scoops a small amount of porridge into a bowl and gets a glass of water on a tray before entering the bedroom. The sight of Yifan pressing his palms on his eyes twists his heart in a painful way. He knows Yifan is in a lot of pain, and he wants him to find relief, and he knows feeding him will be a struggle. He puts the tray on the floor as he tugs at Yifan’s wrists. He says as softly as he can, “Hey, can you sit up long enough to eat?”

Yifan frowns as if sitting up is the most impossible thing for him to do now, and it is. The pain is back in full force and he feels like someone is hammering inside his skull, and the pain has also radiated to his eyes. However, he is aware he cannot take his pain meds on an empty stomach—the last time he did that, he ended up throwing up the previous night’s dinner, or whatever remained of it. Maybe Junmyeon understands his extreme disdain for sitting up as he shoves pillows under his head and elevates him enough so he doesn’t choke on his food. Yifan opens his mouth, obviously expecting to be fed and Junmyeon chuckles slightly before scooping some porridge and proceeding to feed his boyfriend.

Yifan manages five and a half spoonfuls before giving up; even chewing has started to hurt, though the porridge is basically mush. His jaw hurts now, and he really doesn’t want to move them anymore. Junmyeon clicks his tongue and doesn’t push. He says, “Alright then, your pills.”

Junmyeon picks up the foil and rips it to pop one pink-coloured pill out. Yifan opens his mouth again and lets Junmyeon place the pill on his tongue. Junmyeon even helps him drink the water to wash the pill down. Junmyeon pulls out the extra pillows and Yifan curls underneath the blankets again. Junmyeon is about to get up from the bed when Yifan says, “Stay.”

Junmyeon nods before kissing Yifan’s temple again, “I will be right back, okay?” And he keeps his words as he hurries back to the bedroom as soon as he has placed the dishes in the kitchen. Yifan blinks at him and pouts at him; Junmyeon smiles before he crawls up the bed and lies down beside Yifan, who turns to his side. Junmyeon is the big spoon as he hugs Yifan from behind, a hand carding through the latter’s hair. Yifan purrs, pulling his legs up so he fits against Junmyeon better, who swings a leg over his thigh; and Junmyeon keeps up his ministrations, his fingernails gently scratching Yifan’s scalp as he falls asleep. He removes his hand and puts it over Yifan’s chest. He kisses the side of Yifan’s jaw and holds him close as he himself falls slowly asleep, hoping to the high heavens that Yifan wakes up feeling better.

 

Yifan wakes up and the first thing he notices is his pain is almost negligible, it’s still there but it no longer feels like someone is hammering inside his head. He tries to stretch when he feels a weight around his chest and thigh. He feels warm air ticking his nape and he turns his head slightly (wincing a little all the time) and smiles when he sees Junmyeon’s cuddling him as he sleeps. Yifan turns around and that wakes Junmyeon up, and Yifan gets the great privilege of watching his boyfriend wake up. Yifan finds himself falling in love with him all over again as Junmyeon squeezes his eyes before slowly opening them, his gaze always soft when he wakes up, and Yifan always finds his heart stuttering at it. A smile slowly forms on Junmyeon’s face as he cups Yifan’s face and moves to running his fingers through his hair. His voice is dry as he says, “Sleep well?”

Yifan says, “Yeah. I feel a lot better now.”

“I am glad you do.” Junmyeon kisses Yifan’s nose, who melts a little.

Yifan hums as he tucks his head under Junmyeon’s chin and he feels Junmyeon’s other hand winding over his back, running it up and down over the t-shirt. Yifan pulls Junmyeon closer by throwing his hand over his waist. He presses his face into Junmyeon’s sternum and takes a deep breath, always liking how his boyfriend smells—like warmth and home and love. He mumbles, “I love you.”

Junmyeon’s body lightly shakes in laughter as he smiles into Yifan’s messy hair, “I love you too. Hungry?”

Yifan nods as his stomach grumbles in response, “Kind of, but I want more cuddles.”

Junmyeon grins but indulges his boyfriend. They lie there in a hushed, intimate bubble of their own and maybe both doze off some time, only to wake again when Junmyeon’s stomach grumbles this time.

Yifan demands that he can walk to the kitchen on his own, even though Junmyeon wrangles him into holding his hand as they walk to the kitchen. The porridge is still on the stove and Junmyeon reheats it and fries some sausages on the side, as requested by Yifan. When he is done, he puts the food on the table and as they tuck in, Yifan says, “You know, your cooking is really great now.”

Junmyeon grins, “Yeah?”

Yifan smiles as he nods his head. “I remember when you nearly burned your place down while making ramen, and look at you now!”

Junmyeon pouts but he isn’t offended. He just felt bad when he saw Yifan making all their meals for days, especially on nights when he obviously looked tired, so he decided to start learning. He shoves a spoonful of porridge into his mouth and after he swallows it, he says, “By the way, your mom sent me that recipe.”

Yifan frowns, “Really? No wonder it tasted familiar. It was really good Myeon, just how my mom would make it.”

Junmyeon feels his face getting warmer at the compliment. “Thanks. Everyone has been so helpful, even my useless brother.”

Yifan chuckles. “Come on, Seokjin isn’t that useless.”

Junmyeon hums, “Yeah maybe.”

They finish their late lunch in silence and when Junmyeon collects their dishes to put in the sink, Yifan grabs his wrist to stop him. When Junmyeon halts and smiles down at Yifan in confusion, the latter kisses the inside of his wrist and says, “Thank you for taking care of me.”

Junmyeon chuckles, his eyes turning into half-moons as he leans over and kisses the top of Yifan’s head. “You idiot.”

As Junmyeon walks to the sink, Yifan’s heart swells in affection. Junmyeon calls him an idiot every now and then, but Yifan can always hear the affection and love underneath it, and that makes him very, very happy indeed. He hears Junmyeon turn on the water and he shouts, “More cuddles after this please?”

Yifan hears Junmyeon laughing, “You are abusing your position right now Mr Wu!”

Yifan grins as he rests his head on the table; he feels so terribly lucky and loved indeed.

 

After a shower, a couple of movies and demolishing those popsicles while lazing on the couch, and noodle soup for dinner, Yifan gets his cuddles when they return to their bed. Junmyeon gets to be the big spoon again and holds Yifan close and tight, talking about nothing and everything for some time. As the night deepens and the street outside slowly quietens, Junmyeon mumbles into Yifan’s nape, “I love you, you absolute idiot.” Yifan just laces their fingers and squeezes them as he falls asleep, less in pain and more in love each day.


End file.
